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What film will win the Best Picture Oscar this year? Will it be the one with the greatest production accomplishment? Will it be the one that takes you deep inside a character's subjective world-view and makes you see life from his limited perspective?

Some years were quieter celebrations, but just as ceremonial. Even watching them on my own, I bowed to the sense of occasion. I lined up my time-honored snacks, burrowed under my favorite quilt and glued myself to the proceedings, shouting at the screen the entire time.

Did those who were not nominated get snubbed? NO. For God's sake, no! I can think of a whole slew of incredible work in every field of the arts that is so deserving of award recognition and didn't/won't get it for one reason or another, and that does not diminish the quality of the work.

Thursday morning was a wonderful and terrible morning for Hollywood. Some filmmakers got the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of hearing their names called as Oscar nominees (or, if you're Meryl Streep, 19-times-in-a-lifetime). Others were left empty-handed.

he Oscar nominations were announced and so many well-deserved performances and films were honored by that gold guy who bares a striking resemblance to a thinner and taller Ed Asner. That said, as is the case each year, many, many people and movies were left off the ballot.

Oscar speeches and spirituality? Confession is good for the soul. At the annual awards, five little words set my teeth on edge, "And I want to thank," followed by the long, obligatory list of industry insiders. Just once I'd love to see someone get real about gratitude.

It's a wonderful interactive way of experience a show with million web crawlers, but it also crushes the wonderment of individually watching something intently. I bring this up because recently I live tweeted the Grammy's, and felt like I missed out somehow.